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The Coffee and Cake of Search and Display

Announcement posted by ReachLocal Australia 01 Dec 2015

There are some things in life that just belong together – shoes and socks, fish and chips, wine and cheese and of course, coffee and cake. Each of these is great on its own but when combined with its dynamic duo they are even better.

That’s kind of how search engine advertising and display advertising works. When combined, you get better results than by doing each one alone. Before we put them together, let’s understand how each of them work and what the difference is between these types of digital advertising.

Search Engine Advertising

Search engine advertising, also known as pay-per-click advertising or PPC, that gets your business found on search engines. It’s a great way to compete in the online space and directly target people in your area who are using a search engine to look for your products or services.

The way it works is simple. Say you have a Michel’s Patisserie Cake Shop and with the festive season just around the corner you want to advertise on Google. When someone searches for a keyword you’ve bid on, like “Christmas cake,” their search term will trigger your text ad and it will show up in the sponsored section of the search results page. This gives your business visibility quickly.  If your ad is compelling enough, the searcher will click through to your website and hopefully contact your business.

The beauty of search advertising is that you have a chance to compete with the big guys in your local market without spending an arm and a leg in advertising costs. It also gives small business owners a way to directly target searchers based on their geography so your ads only show to people who are around your store or service area. Search advertising is like having a billboard online that targets people in your local area who are actually looking for your products or services.

Display Advertising

Speaking of billboards, display advertising is also a kind of online billboard, used to grow your brand’s awareness on the web. Display ads, also known as banner ads, are shown to your target audience when they are surfing the internet, but not necessarily searching for your product or service.

Often, internet users aren’t researching for a particular product or service. Sometimes they are spending time reading sports results or looking up a cookie baking recipe. This is a great opportunity for businesses to put themselves in front of consumers. You can make sure people remember your cake shop when they see it constantly appearing on websites they regularly look at. That way, when they are shopping online for Christmas presents or get a craving for a delicious cake they’ll be reminded of your business, through your successful display advertising.

How Do Search and Display Advertising Work Together?

When Sally searches for a local bakery, she might see and even click on your text ad, but may not make a decision right away. So you still need a way to reach her when she isn’t searching— through display advertising. The most successful marketing campaigns use multiple forms of media and that’s why both of these tactics work together to help you get more sales.

Coffee is complemented by cake in the same way search is complemented by display advertising. You can be satisfied with one or the other but when search engine advertising and display advertising are combined, your results will be supercharged.

What are you doing to make sure your customers find you online? If you don’t know where to start, talk to ReachLocal. We specialise in helping small- to medium-sized businesses get discovered online. Learn more about our search and display advertising solutions and how these can maximise your marketing efforts.